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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Most know that we love Sunny Hills Estates homes and wouldn't you know, this buyers market has some real nice deals popping up. This weeks pick comes from Sunny Hills Estates and is a HUGE home priced right for this market.

The house appears to probably need a little bit of updating but as far as square footage and location are concerned, its a great deal.

Sunny Hills Estates is one of Fullertons nicest upscale communities known for its executive ranch style homes and large lot sizes. We have a great review of the neighborhood with a ton of local tips on our Sunny Hills Estates Neighborhood Review.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿The Long Beach home sales numbers are in for 2010 and they give us a pretty good idea where we're headed in 2011. Overall the market rebounded well in the beginning of the year but came upon a slowdown by years end. We expect to see the slow trend continue, and with it, a resurgence of the competitive pricing buyers have come to love. Luxury homes have not been excluded from this trend. This Long Beach Boat Dock Home on the Naples Canals of Alamitos Bay is currently listed for $4,850,000 and a great example of a home that would have sold for much more just a few short years ago. If you want to see what $5 million gets you in LB, just click here to take the tour. Across the board, Long Beach home buyers eyes are lighting up seeing the kinds of deals that are out there for them today.

Inventory vs. Days on the Market

The number of homes on the market (inventory) in Long Beach was actually pretty low to start the year, but as it progressed, the number actually rose by nearly 50%!. Why the increase? Average Days on the Market was down which means houses were selling. When things are selling, especially in the midst of a market low point, people who need to sell take notice and list them up. By years end, things have absolutely reversed. Their is now less homes being listed and a growing increase in the number of days on the market as you'll see in the graph below.

Number of Sales

The Long Beach real estate sales data always trails 3 months behind so the numbers you see for the June will actually be sales that happened in April and likewise with other months. The number of homes sold in 2010 was actually up over the 2009 numbers. Sales were pretty solid with about 1,400 homes sold each month of the Spring and early Summer. By fall and early winter, the number of monthly sales dipped below 1,000 homes in the entire city. As we move on to 2011, we are seeing the sales stay low and drop even more over the holidays.

Average Price Per Sqft

The Average Price Per Sqft of a Long Beach home has actually remained pretty constant. We saw a quick increase in the statistic at the end of the year but we have come back to around $250 per sqft. You need to remember though that Long Beach is a huge city and the average price will vary greatly depending on where you're at. For example, a small house in Belmont Shore will still command a very high price per sqft when compared to a 2,000 sqft tract home in North Long Beach. ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

2010 proved to be tumultuous year with the end of the tax credit era. While Long Beach, CA real estate had great sales statistics over the year, the end of 2010 seemed to point to another market downswing. The number of sales coming down is a self explanatory statistic, but more to the point, the average days on market vs. inventory is really telling. Anytime we see the average days on the market go up while the number of homes for sale is going down, its a safe bet that there is a real slowdown in buyer interest.

The good news is that sellers that need to sell are responding with very competitive prices and the buyers that are out there are loving it. The sellers and homeowners are a different story. One had better be very motivated and very detached from the prices of 2006 in order to sell today. Luckily, there are buyers out there (and a lot of them are really good buyers), we just have to be extra diligent in giving them product of great value for their money. If you have questions on how to do this or how to find a great Long Beach, CA home in 2011, just let us know.